How To Make Your Characters Shockingly Real

In this post, we share ways that will help you make your characters shockingly real.

Characters become shockingly real when they struggle with the same issues we do.

Warning: Disturbing Image

Why have I traumatised you in such a fashion? Why have I seared this image into your mind? The answer is simple. I want you to remember what I am about to tell you.

I find the Queen fascinating. I often wonder what she is really like when she at home, away from the public. When we write we create human beings. People who talk and walk and work and eat and make love and swear and drink too much (or too little). People who live. Now what does that have to do with the Queen on the loo?

Making Characters Real

Often when we create characters we make them too perfect, so they come across as one dimensional. We don’t give them flaws. We want them all to be James Bond. I really like James Bond, by the way, but there can be only one.

Characters become real when they struggle with the same issues we do. A gimpy knee, a few too many drinks, hidden desires and ambitions. No one is all good or all bad. We all succumb to jealousy, lust, ambition and we all need a pee break. Your character should too.

So when you find yourself writing about a boring Mr Perfect who doesn’t feel hunger or anger or lust, remember even the Queen has to use the loo…

Source for Image: Alison Jackson

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[Use our Character Creation Kit to create great characters for your stories.]

by Mia Botha

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Posted on: 11th June 2014
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0 thoughts on “How To Make Your Characters Shockingly Real”

  1. I am trying to write a story about a vampire. Having a hard time making this seem real. Erotic love story. Any suggestions?

  2. Vampires are not “REAL” just like aliens, dinosaurs, ghosts, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Clause but people believe in the myth because the writer creates the illusion of their world , gives them believable characteristics and asks the audience to “suspend disbelief.” Some examples that do this:
    E.T., Jurassic Park, Ghost, Love At First Bite, Vampire Diaries, and numerous books, films, stories, and traditional cultural beliefs handed down from parent to child for hundreds of years. Watch the films, read the books
    and screenplays to get a feel for the world of the characters and how the writer or actor made them believable. And then, use your own creative
    imagination, “What if?”. Good luck with your writing!